A Lazy August Day

Actually, it hasn't been such a lazy August day. I've been spending a few days with my cousins, Joanne and Gordon, in LaConner while we wait for the insecticide to dissipate. The exterminators came to our townhouse on Friday to do a second spraying to eliminate the bird mites. We all left for 3 nights to minimize exposure to it. The first time around we seemed to do OK returning after 3 nights away, so we are repeating that. I am grateful to my cousins for taking me in again. It is beautiful here in LaConner. We are right on the water, the Swinomish Channel, and can watch the boats go by. The weather turned sunny--it probably has reached 90 degrees in this afternoon. There is a pleasant breeze here, so the heat isn't too bad.

I can always count on getting enough exercise when I visit my cousins. Joanne swims almost every day with her friend, Aleta, at Shelter Bay. I joined them last night, then again this morning. The three of us do a series of water exercises for an hour. We do both aerobic and strength training. Tomorrow we'll swim in the morning to avoid the crowds when the sun heats up. Joanne and I also went to visit Cousin Charlie where he works at a bookstore in Mt. Vernon. He seems very happily employed there. We toured the Mt. Vernon farmers' market as well as the rest of the downtown area. We went on to visit Joanne's friend Betsy, then the Burlington Mall, and finally Costco. Joanne says she hasn't had time to sit down and read for a long time. I believe her. Tonight we'll relax by watching a video.

Son Phil successfully finished his quarter at WWU and got moved out of his apartment. He's going to be renting another, smaller apartment while he attends fall quarter there. Tally will be able to join him. Phil is getting oriented to Seattle. His questions about getting around the city remind me that we never did spend much time there as a family as he was growing up. He avoided going over the bridge from Bellevue to Seattle. I understand. I often would not go into Seattle for weeks when we were living in Bellevue. It feels more like home for us because we lived there before.